Commercial

Sovereign Business Solutions Group have become Worcestershire CCC’s new County Championship collar sponsors for the 2018 season – and are hoping it will develop into a long and fruitful partnership.

Sovereign, who have recently launched a Worcester branch of the company in Pope Iron Road, Barbourne, specialise in the supply of office products, print, furniture and computer consumables

It is very much a family run business – founded by managing director Gary Cox whose sons Brad and Jordan are commercial manager and purchasing manager respectively.

Sovereign are hoping the sponsorship deal will provide them with plenty of commercial exposure via extra media coverage of the County now they are back in Division One of the Championship.

But they also see the partnership as an ideal opportunity for business networking.

In addition to the collar sponsorship deal, Sovereign are also Worcestershire CCC’s official office supplier.

They supplied the new Blackfinch reception unit in The View and the furniture for the new executive Board Room formed from two of the corporate boxes at the New Road end of the ground.

As well as Sovereign’s full catalogue of 20,000 products available for next day delivery, they also have easy access to over 160,000 products from manufacturers in Europe and across the world.

With the support of Europe’s largest wholesaler, Sovereign is able to take advantage of global sourcing of products, which enables them to maximise cost savings and give the widest choice of quality products to meet the customers needs.

Commercial manager Brad Cox said: “We are delighted with the link-up with Worcestershire County Cricket Club and hope it is going to be a very fruitful partnership.

“We’ve got a partnership with Worcester Warriors at the moment which has been very successful. I am hoping it is going to be much the same here.

“It’s a one year deal at the moment. It’s new territory for us so we wanted to dip our toe into the water but hopefully the partnership will flourish.

“We are sponsoring the Championship shirt collar and we are hoping, with the team being in Division One, that there will be a lot of exposure for us.

“With the shirt collar, you should see the Sovereign brand when people are being interviewed after matches and through television.

“We should see our logo being displayed and that’s what we want.

“The partnership is also good in terms of meeting other like-minded business owners and networking.

“We can bring people down here, customers enjoy it, it’s a great way to break the barriers down, and also good for employees of the company to say ‘thank you for what you’ve been doing.’ I’m happy with the partnership.

“We like the feel of everything at Worcester, both the cricket and the rugby, and everyone is welcoming.

“The corporate side of things at other grounds doesn’t feel as wholesome as it does here.”

Brad Cox, himself a cricket fan, added: “The exposure is one thing but we’ve also just opened our first office in Worcester.

“The business was initially based in Halesowen and set up by my father (Gary), and my grandad came into the business for a while in a directorial role (Sidney Cox).

“Then my younger brother (Jordan) came in with myself. We are a really family run business and we deal with other family run businesses and that is our bread and butter.”

Worcestershire CCC Sales Executive Paul Biggerstaff said: “We are delighted to forge the link with Sovereign, not only as our Championship shirt collar sponsor but also as our office supplier.

“They are a go ahead, flourishing company who we believe will gain the exposure they are looking for through the additional exposure counties receive from being part of Division One cricket.

“Sovereign have also opened their first office in Worcester and see it as an ideal opportunity for business networking and it is a perfect location for such partnerships to be forged.

“We echo their thoughts in hoping it will be a long-standing partnership.”